Jim Newton is a former TV employee who has also worked in the film industry. Drawing on a professional background in broadcasting and film, he reviews fiction with a particular eye for storytelling, character, pace and atmosphere.
A family walk in the Scottish countryside ought to be a relatively harmless undertaking. In Simon Kernick's latest thriller, it becomes the beginning of a nightmare involving kidnapping, murder and a conspiracy reaching into the upper reaches of British political life.
Luke Jones is hiking through Galloway Forest with his wife, Sofia, and their twelve-year-old son, Max, when they hear a woman calling for help. What follows is a terrifying encounter with armed criminals that leaves Luke injured and his family in captivity. To secure their release, he must obey a series of increasingly dangerous instructions, knowing that one wrong move could cost them their lives.
Meanwhile, the murder of a young woman whose abduction has attracted considerable attention draws investigators into a separate but ultimately connected mystery. As the two investigations converge, a ruthless criminal organisation emerges, its activities entangled with political ambition and powerful individuals determined to protect their interests.
Simon Kernick has never been an author inclined to let his characters enjoy a quiet moment. The action moves at breakneck speed, switching between desperate escapes, violent confrontations and an investigation in which nobody appears entirely trustworthy. The short, tightly constructed chapters encourage the familiar temptation to read just one more.
There are occasions when coincidence plays too convenient a part, while the sheer accumulation of peril stretches credibility. Yet Kernick's considerable skill lies in making such objections seem unimportant while the story is unfolding.
Beneath the mayhem is a darker examination of corruption, criminal influence and the vulnerability of ordinary people caught in the ambitions of the powerful.
Breathlessly paced, frequently brutal and expertly engineered to keep the pages turning, No One Is Safe delivers precisely what Kernick's admirers have come to expect.
